Look at your dog's water bowl. If you're not willing to drink from it, time to wash the bowl and provide new water.

This seems obvious but many well-meaning and caring dog owners overlook the issue. Please advise if you think I'm being OC or if you believe this is a real common oversight.

It seems swollen but there’s not a cut In between. She’s only been licking her foot and still putting weight on it so I don’t know what’s going on.

Edit: thank you! I’m 100% gonna get her to the vet ASAP!

ive never seen a dog like mine. he's a very strange and sweet, emotional guy. i don't think i'll ever have another dog like him, so for those of you that lost their own special dogs, how did you deal with the pain? i might want another dog in my lifetime, but no one will be like my dog, and i'm not at all excited for the day he eventually passes.

Seems like she's sleeping with her eyes open.

this might sound insane and far too jaded but i feel bad for having a companion pet dog right now. too skint for the pal number fee (she was adopted) and she is not very eager to please so she sleeps and goes to the park for two hours every day. she is rarely walked because it is too hot where i live. (she is 7 so she is too old to be out for long in the heat anyway)

and i feel bad. i hate being a "pet person" and doing nothing with my dog who is from what should be a working breed. have i lost the plot is it ok to just have a companion pet i am kinda going insane with guilt. like why have a dog if i do nothing dog with it even if the dog is happy that way. please help

eta: thank you all for bringing me back to reality LMAO i have been far too chronically online in the show and sport community and just on reddit in general, reading about working dogs and shit. so i felt a little bad for having a dog that does nothing. but if she is happy then i am happy

I currently have 4 dogs (Benson 17yrs 10lbs, Lexie 10 yrs 18lbs, Beef 1.5yrs 110lbs, & Ham 1yrs 90lbs) and 3 cats (Fig 8yrs, Butter 5yrs, Rudy 2 yrs).

For the most part everyone gets along. Beef can be a lot for the smaller dogs and the cats though so he is always separated from them no matter what.

If I'm not actively supervising them, the dogs are always always separate from the other dogs and cats (Benson & Lexie are allowed near the cats). Either in crates or their own rooms.

For example when I go to work, Beef is gated in the kitchen, Ham in the living room, Lexie roams the basement and Benson is in his playpen.

My whole family thinks I'm the strangest person on earth because they should be able to "free roam and just be together" but even the thought of that terrifies me. Before I leave the house I always triple check to make sure everyone is secured in their own space and wont be able to get out.

Yes they do get along but I worry I'll come home one day to find one of them was attacked. I can't say I've seen so many horror stories, just one of a woman coming home to her dogs who she'd had for years to find one of them mauled by the other.

Am I actually being unreasonable?

They used a different anesthesia medicine (supposed to be safer they said) this time and her heart gave out. She was fine the last two cleanings with the other anesthesia. I don't want to be mad, angry or upset with the vets office but I want to know that Pearl was treated right. They said they will pay for an autopsy. I'm so confused, hurt and devastated. She was so scared going into the office this morning and wanted so badly to leave and I did this to her. Please let me know how to proceed.

Edit: I just want to thank everyone who shared condolences, a story, or other comment. I've been in tears and a wreck all day and the fact that you took time out of your day to respond means so much to me. I am going through the worst of it today because of the shock, but I know time will heal my mind. Our pets teach us so much about what it means to exist on this planet - my dog was a nervous wreck from the day we rescued her, probably from past abuse. She came with a mouth full of rotted teeth that needed to be pulled and cleaned and we brushed her teeth to keep them as clean as we could, but she still needed the cleanings.

We all want to feel safe and at peace and I know she is now. ❤️

My dog (9 years old female) and her dog best friend (a few months older, female) have know each other since they were puppies. They don’t meet super often, maybe two or three a month when we meet them on walks. Their usual meetings aren’t playful, more just sniffing each other and greeting owners but happy to see the other dog.

I didn’t see this cause it was my mom walking her but here’s what happened: Our dog started rolling around in blueberry rice and her dog friend went over to her and all of a sudden started growling. Both my mom and the other owner had thought this was playful at first. They started fighting and the other dog bit out dogs neck. My dog seems to have been a bit in shock and did not want to continue walking. She threw up her food, and then only like see through phlegm two times. My mom called me to meet them so that our dog would maybe be more motivated to walk home. At this point the other dog had left. Our dog still didn’t really want to walk and would stop and lie down or tilt her head up like she still needed to throw up. I had to carry her most of the way. Now at home she is lying down but still occasionally dry heaves. There are no bite marks on her fortunately.

My question is: why did this happen? Could it have been a change in their hierarchy or something? Or is it that her dog friend is a so called ‘fun police’ and it escalated? Our dog btw is a lagotto and the other is a labradoodle so there is a bit of a size difference. But neither of our dogs have ever been aggressive like that, so both my mom and the other owner were very surprised and shocked.

We will see if we can have them meet soon in a calm and neutral place. And we will also see how she is doing tomorrow and take her to the vet if necessary.

Soo I went on vacay yesterday and wont be back untill next week. My brother is taking care of mydog but says she wont stop crying.... anything I can do from here? Any tips?

Hello all! Before I go into detail, he's well in himself in that he is eating/drinking/toileting/breathing fine. Not an emergency situ. Looking for advice/thoughts. This is our Chip. We had a very exciting woodland walk today and he's wild in the forest, gets very excited, chucks himself around following smells, shoving his nose into/under anything he can and jumping over fallen trees/regularly face planting cause hes a maniac! This is normal behaviour for him - hes also your typical doxie and extremely melodramatic(one time I honestly thought hed broken a limb because of whimpering and limping post walk and he literally just had some leaves in his fur by his toes). The difference with todays walk is I may have gotten slightly lost and we were out for too long, he stopped as in too tired and I carried him home but he was absolutely fine, had dinner at home, drank plenty. Couple hours after being home he just seemed unsettled and kept coming to me for reassurance. Checked him all over, no ticks/bits in fur. But now Ive noticed his nose - i dont know if it was there previously like immediately after walk but I find that unlikely as its so obvious now! The pic of him looking glorious/at the camera is his normal appearance - the rest are how he is now. Im thinking a bite/sting/swelling from face planting. He will let me touch it and doesnt appear soft/fluid filled. He is constantly rubbing it on the carpet its clearly really annoying him. Any thoughts? He wont let me put a cold compress on to reduce swelling. Im finding it hard to tell if his eyes are slightly swollen too, nothing severe but potentially due to all the carpet rubbing!

Every time I let them outside to use the bathroom, my smaller dog bites/latches onto my larger dog’s neck, and they both run off. Sometimes it doesn’t look too hard, but other times it looks like he’s really latching on lately. I’ve been yelling at him to stop, and he does, but my question is why does he do that?? Is it aggression, or is he just being playful ? Should I continue to correct him? Any advice will be helpful (dropped a picture of them also).

Backstory: I met my now boyfriend about two years ago. He rescued a 4-ish year-old pitbull from whom otherwise would have been euthanized, about a year and a half ago. We don't really know his living environment prior. I moved in with him 2+ months ago and my 9-year-old daughter moved in a few weeks ago (after coming home from her dads for the summer). About 2 weeks in, he went after her, and as a result, both of us got bit. It does seem that he was going after her and I only got bit because I was "in the way" while trying to protect her. She did nothing to provoke it. I was actually the one playing lightly with the dog. I saw he was getting excited, which was normal, and so I stopped and walked away. That is when he went after her. While of course you never think this would happen, there were two other relevant incidents, now looking back... He snapped at my boyfriend after he was trying to move him off the couch at 5am in the morning, while the dog was semi-asleep, and we once gave him a toy, and my boyfriend went to play with him with it, and he got very mean and tried to bite him.

Now that all this happened, the dog is staying with a co-worker temporarily. My boyfriend doesn't have any kids, and he is very much a dog person, so he considered this "his kid". I'm trying to be sensitive to that while also dealing with my own emotions and how it impacted my daughter and I.

He mentioned that he has a friend who is a dog trainer and would be worth talking to. He showed him the Ring camera footage as well as had a conversation with him about what happened and the dog trainer stated we've been doing things wrong. I'm not disagreeing that looking back, we could have done things differently, but this was an unprovoked attack on a child... and he did not stop, until I could safely get her away. The first time we managed to get into the laundry room, he broke down the gate to continue to go after her. This wasn't just a once and done bite. I'm very, very thankful it wasn't worse, as it very much could have been.

I shared that I'm not against talking to the trainer, but it would be in no way of considering getting the dog back. He seemed to understand but hasn't really made any attempt at long term plans, and he certainly does not want to put the dog down.

We have vacation plans and the co-worker who is watching the dog is going to be away at the same time we are. We have a dog sitter who is willing to watch the dog still, but it will be at our house, so he is bringing the dog back inside our home while we are away, however, I have to make special arrangements to not be around as I don't feel comfortable being around the dog.

Some of this post is just to vent however, I am looking for thoughts and opinions on that situation. Am I being completely unreasonable? I don't know how I could ever trust the dog around my child (or me) again, and although that part he seems to understand, I don't feel he's seriously taking into consideration the impact this had on us. Though I feel bad and know he lost his dog and "buddy", I feel triggered by him just figuring out a temporary situation, that I now have to circle back and essentially be a part of. I'm certainly irritated about it due to more than one factor, but I'm trying not to be heartless towards how it's impacted him as well...

Update: I may have not been clear, as my thoughts are scattered and I started rambling but I am in no way considering getting the dog back and assure you I will NOT put my daughter in danger. She will never be around the dog again.

I here his little fart winds or some times not but its like fills up the whole house even with open windows and ac on im not sure it because of his fart but the house smells terrible

We rescued a dog a few months ago (a 3–4 yr male poodle mix), and we’ve since learned that he has extremely severe separation anxiety (something the rescue did not disclose). If he cannot see us, he immediately begins barking and crying, and he has even had accidents. By “cannot see us,” I mean something as simple as closing the bathroom door.

When we leave the house, we put him in a kennel, and he barks and cries nonstop, then pees and poops all over. This has clearly been happening for a long time, because he even knows how to eliminate through the bars of the kennel. We tried switching to a playpen, but the behavior was exactly the same. At this point, we avoid leaving the house unless absolutely necessary because every departure means cleaning up urine and feces and giving him a bath.

We’re feeling discouraged because it seems like we’ve tried everything. We’ve done desensitizing techniques (jingling keys, short departures and returns, putting him in another room briefly, staying calm and neutral when coming home). We’ve tried relaxation techniques (covering the crate, heartbeat toys, calming music). We’ve even tried mitigation strategies (pee wraps, diapers, waterproof blankets). The diapers helped with the mess at first, but he eventually figured out how to remove them.

I’ve seen people mention medication, but I’m unsure whether that’s the right next step or whether it would help anxiety this severe. We don’t have a lot of money to put toward professional training, which is why we’ve been trying DIY approaches so far. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. I’m a teacher and will be returning to school soon, and I’m worried about leaving him alone for eight hours.

My dog is the sweetest, most loving animal I have ever met. I've had her about a year and a half, and she's never been remotely aggressive. She's motivated by physical touch, handles baths well, and is decent with nail trimming as long as I do it in parts.

Recently someone told me that dogs' ears are overcropped the way my dog's is, when they're used in dog fighting. She has some random white marks on her fur, and the same person told me that they were from dog bites.

I'm not considering abandoning her or anything. Not in a million years.

But I just want to know, does this mean she was likely put through dog rights? Was she maybe used as a breeder dog, and bitten while in that environment? She had puppies some time before she was found as a stray.

I know no one can tell me for sure. But if anyone can weigh in with an educated opinion, I'd appreciate it.

10 year old dog afraid of his room at bedtime

This sweet sweet boy found me two years ago. He had been living on his own for, I don't know how long. He was skin and bones. He is a happy boy now. He stays outside during the day, with his Halo collar. I bring him in every night. He gets a treat and sleeps on his memory foam mattress, in our laundry room. For the last week, he has been very reluctant to go in there. I noticed this morning that his bed was slightly wet. I washed the cover. Tonight I could barely get the door shut. He seems really nervous to go to bed. For two years; no problem. I bought some cheaper bleach, that is on the counter. It's got the lid on it. I don't really think that is it. But it's the only change in there. He is older. And his eyesight is bad. And he paces a lot, back and forth, sometimes, like maybe dementia is setting in. Most of the time he is just a happy playful dog. He loves to try and play Frisbee. And he loves my other dog. Any ideas?

Hi everyone! My dog has been potentially diagnosed with IVDD and is on bed rest while we wait for his MRI.

I’m looking for recommendations on bones/chews to give him that are good for his stomach and won’t hurt him. I’ve heard so many horror stories and get worried about it! He won’t be left unattended with anything I give him!

Here’s a picture of him!

Sincerely,
An anxious first time dog owner haha